After winning three back-to-back away matches at Bangalore, Kolkata, and Hyderabad, the boys returned to Kotla to play their 4th home match of IPL 2019.
Mumbai Indians elected to bat first after winning the toss. With what seemed to be a slower wicket initially, our local boy Ishant Sharma started the proceedings quite well for us with some unexpected bounce in his initial spell. He bowled a tight over first up and conceded just 5 runs. The visitors were 16/0 at the end of 3 overs.
Quinton de Kock and Rohit Sharma decided to break the shackles and smashed 41 runs in the next 3 overs. The visitors in a good position at the end of the powerplay - at 57 for no loss.
Our experienced spinner Mishra was brought into the attack in the 7th over. This change did the trick as Mishra bowled the dangerous looking Rohit Sharma on his very first ball. This was the 150th IPL wicket for the 36-year-old. Amit Mishra became only the 2nd player ever and the first Indian to reach this landmark figure in the IPL.
Axar Patel gave us another breakthrough in the form of Ben Cutting. The MI all-rounder tried to sweep the ball, but he missed the length delivery and was declared LBW. Our spinners put the pressure right back on the visitors and got us back in the game.
We got the third wicket as a result of a mix up between Suryakumar Yadav and de Kock. Yadav cut Patel's delivery straight towards Rabada at point. The MI batsman took a few steps but changed his mind and returned to his crease. Meanwhile, de Kock had committed to the single and dashed towards the striker’s end. With both the batsmen at the striker’s end, it proved to be an easy run-out at the non-striker’s end.
Halfway through the innings, Mahela Jayawardene's troops were at 75 runs at the loss of 3 wickets. Axar Patel and bowled another couple of tight overs to finish with economical figures of 1/17 in 4 overs.
The opposition batsmen could only score 29 runs between overs 10 and 15 but they did not lose any wicket.
Rabada sent Suryakumar Yadav back to the pavilion on the first ball of the 16th over. Our speedster bowled a superbly disguised slower delivery. Yadav tried to scoop the ball over fine leg but could only manage to get an edge. Rishabh Pant dived to his right to complete an exceptional catch. He got the Perfect Catch of the Match award for his splendid effort.
The MI scorecard read 118/4 with three overs remaining and Pandya brothers at the crease. Both Krunal and Hardik stepped on the gas and did some damage in the last 3 overs. Rabada dismissed Hardik in the last over but not before he had scored a quickfire 32 runs off 15 balls. Krunal, too, scored 37 off 26 deliveries to help the visitors to a competitive total of 168/5 in 20 overs.
It was over to our batsmen now. Shaw and Dhawan gave us just the perfect start. Prithvi hit Hardik Pandya for two fours in the very first over. On the other hand, our experienced southpaw Dhawan hit Rahul Chahar for two fours in the very next over.
The 33-year-old was at his blistering best and hitting the ball cleanly. Gabbar reached another milestone and became the batsman with the most fours in IPL. 5 fours as his knock against MI helped him reach 495 fours. He surpassed Gautam Gambhir, who was earlier at the top of the chart with 491 fours. The southpaw also got the Stylish Player of the Match award for the brilliant shots he played on the day.
At the end of the powerplay, we had scored 48 runs without the loss of any wicket. However, Rahul Chahar got Dhawan out LBW in the 7th over. The legbreak bowler then got Shaw out in the 9th over denting our openers’ fierce start. He tossed up a delivery and Prithvi went for a maximum. However, he was caught by Hardik Pandya at long-on.
Munro, who had played a brilliant knock of 40 against Sunrisers Hyderabad, could not trouble the scorecard much in this match. The Kiwi player was also back in the hut after scoring 3 runs. The pressure continued to pile on our boys as we lost the wicket of skipper Iyer in the 11th over.
At the end of the 11th over, the scoreboard read 65/4.
Chahar finished his spell with figures 3/19 in 4 overs. Rishabh Pant and Axar Patel were out in the middle now. MI's strike bowler Jasprit Bumrah was brought into the attack. He bowled Pant in the 14th over and the target seemed to get further away from our hands.
Chris Morris hit Bumrah for a huge six in the 16th over. Axar Patel then hit Malinga for a maximum at the start of the 17th over. Our two all-rounders were unwilling to give it up without putting up a fight. Morris tried to up the ante further and hit Malinga for another six on the last ball of the 17th but the ball hit the toe end of the bat and Hardik Pandya took another catch at long on.
Keemo Paul was run out without facing a delivery while Axar Patel was bowled by Bumrah in the 18th over. Rabada hit Hardik for a six in the last over but was caught out by Keiron Pollard on the very next.
Eventually, we finished with 128/9 at the end our 20 overs. This became our 4th defeat of the season and we moved one place down on the IPL table from 2nd position to third. Mumbai Indians switched places with us and moved up to 2nd position after the 40-run victory.
A few things did not go right but Ponting and his troops have one day to get themselves together as they take on Kings XI Punjab on 20th April 2019.
Shreyas Iyer shared his thoughts after the match:
It's important for us to win the home games. We know that the pitch is going to get slow with every match. It's important to win the toss here. Credit also goes to them for playing good cricket too. We need to get used to such conditions. The wicket was really slow, and I think we gave 20 runs extra. The ball was gripping and stopping. Especially for the new batsman to go and get going from the first ball is difficult. Those three overs (that cost 50 runs) were what changed the game.
After winning three back-to-back away matches at Bangalore, Kolkata, and Hyderabad, the boys returned to Kotla to play their 4th home match of IPL 2019.
Mumbai Indians elected to bat first after winning the toss. With what seemed to be a slower wicket initially, our local boy Ishant Sharma started the proceedings quite well for us with some unexpected bounce in his initial spell. He bowled a tight over first up and conceded just 5 runs. The visitors were 16/0 at the end of 3 overs.
Quinton de Kock and Rohit Sharma decided to break the shackles and smashed 41 runs in the next 3 overs. The visitors in a good position at the end of the powerplay - at 57 for no loss.
Our experienced spinner Mishra was brought into the attack in the 7th over. This change did the trick as Mishra bowled the dangerous looking Rohit Sharma on his very first ball. This was the 150th IPL wicket for the 36-year-old. Amit Mishra became only the 2nd player ever and the first Indian to reach this landmark figure in the IPL.
Axar Patel gave us another breakthrough in the form of Ben Cutting. The MI all-rounder tried to sweep the ball, but he missed the length delivery and was declared LBW. Our spinners put the pressure right back on the visitors and got us back in the game.
We got the third wicket as a result of a mix up between Suryakumar Yadav and de Kock. Yadav cut Patel's delivery straight towards Rabada at point. The MI batsman took a few steps but changed his mind and returned to his crease. Meanwhile, de Kock had committed to the single and dashed towards the striker’s end. With both the batsmen at the striker’s end, it proved to be an easy run-out at the non-striker’s end.
Halfway through the innings, Mahela Jayawardene's troops were at 75 runs at the loss of 3 wickets. Axar Patel and bowled another couple of tight overs to finish with economical figures of 1/17 in 4 overs.
The opposition batsmen could only score 29 runs between overs 10 and 15 but they did not lose any wicket.
Rabada sent Suryakumar Yadav back to the pavilion on the first ball of the 16th over. Our speedster bowled a superbly disguised slower delivery. Yadav tried to scoop the ball over fine leg but could only manage to get an edge. Rishabh Pant dived to his right to complete an exceptional catch. He got the Perfect Catch of the Match award for his splendid effort.
The MI scorecard read 118/4 with three overs remaining and Pandya brothers at the crease. Both Krunal and Hardik stepped on the gas and did some damage in the last 3 overs. Rabada dismissed Hardik in the last over but not before he had scored a quickfire 32 runs off 15 balls. Krunal, too, scored 37 off 26 deliveries to help the visitors to a competitive total of 168/5 in 20 overs.
It was over to our batsmen now. Shaw and Dhawan gave us just the perfect start. Prithvi hit Hardik Pandya for two fours in the very first over. On the other hand, our experienced southpaw Dhawan hit Rahul Chahar for two fours in the very next over.
The 33-year-old was at his blistering best and hitting the ball cleanly. Gabbar reached another milestone and became the batsman with the most fours in IPL. 5 fours as his knock against MI helped him reach 495 fours. He surpassed Gautam Gambhir, who was earlier at the top of the chart with 491 fours. The southpaw also got the Stylish Player of the Match award for the brilliant shots he played on the day.
At the end of the powerplay, we had scored 48 runs without the loss of any wicket. However, Rahul Chahar got Dhawan out LBW in the 7th over. The legbreak bowler then got Shaw out in the 9th over denting our openers’ fierce start. He tossed up a delivery and Prithvi went for a maximum. However, he was caught by Hardik Pandya at long-on.
Munro, who had played a brilliant knock of 40 against Sunrisers Hyderabad, could not trouble the scorecard much in this match. The Kiwi player was also back in the hut after scoring 3 runs. The pressure continued to pile on our boys as we lost the wicket of skipper Iyer in the 11th over.
At the end of the 11th over, the scoreboard read 65/4.
Chahar finished his spell with figures 3/19 in 4 overs. Rishabh Pant and Axar Patel were out in the middle now. MI's strike bowler Jasprit Bumrah was brought into the attack. He bowled Pant in the 14th over and the target seemed to get further away from our hands.
Chris Morris hit Bumrah for a huge six in the 16th over. Axar Patel then hit Malinga for a maximum at the start of the 17th over. Our two all-rounders were unwilling to give it up without putting up a fight. Morris tried to up the ante further and hit Malinga for another six on the last ball of the 17th but the ball hit the toe end of the bat and Hardik Pandya took another catch at long on.
Keemo Paul was run out without facing a delivery while Axar Patel was bowled by Bumrah in the 18th over. Rabada hit Hardik for a six in the last over but was caught out by Keiron Pollard on the very next.
Eventually, we finished with 128/9 at the end our 20 overs. This became our 4th defeat of the season and we moved one place down on the IPL table from 2nd position to third. Mumbai Indians switched places with us and moved up to 2nd position after the 40-run victory.
A few things did not go right but Ponting and his troops have one day to get themselves together as they take on Kings XI Punjab on 20th April 2019.
Shreyas Iyer shared his thoughts after the match:
It's important for us to win the home games. We know that the pitch is going to get slow with every match. It's important to win the toss here. Credit also goes to them for playing good cricket too. We need to get used to such conditions. The wicket was really slow, and I think we gave 20 runs extra. The ball was gripping and stopping. Especially for the new batsman to go and get going from the first ball is difficult. Those three overs (that cost 50 runs) were what changed the game.
